Exercises for Lat Width

Pull-ups, pull-ups, and more pull-ups!

A lot of the width people want actually comes from the Terres muscle group. Pull-downs and assisted pull-up machines work really well.

Banded pull-ups with a strong squeeze at the top (when unassisted), supinated wide-grip pulldowns with a full stretch, and my absolute favorite: dumbbell pullovers. Deep stretch, high reps, and heavy weight.

Slut.

I follow Eric Janicki; he has lots of interesting exercises.

For years, I've trained my back twice a week, and as a smaller guy, I often get compliments on my lats. I generally start with pull-ups, doing 10 for the first set, then going to failure for 2 more sets. After that, I typically do lat pulldowns. Those pull-ups really pump me up and activate my lats.

I had small lats for most of my life due to neglecting back training. Dumbbell pullovers have really blown up my lats like balloons in the past 6 months.

UNDERHAND CLOSE GRIP!

What worked for me were both underhand close grip and lat pull-downs. Instead of pulling the bar down high to the chin or upper chest, I pull it down lower towards my belly and really squeeze my lats. The standard lat pull-down just works my upper back and shoulders.

Whether it's back day or not, I do 4 sets of 20 wide grip pull-ups and 2 close grip pull-ups every day I hit the gym. On back days, I make sure to include dumbbell pullovers, wide and close grip lat pull-downs, and bent over rows with a reverse grip, squeezing at the top.

Ask has impressive lats.

I appreciate it, buddy. Want to build a big back? Barbell rows were key for me. I usually start with about 3 sets to warm up my back and biceps, then I go for another 4 working sets, aiming for 9 to 10 reps on my heavier sets, hitting around 405 for about 8 reps. After that, I reduce the weight while increasing the reps. Then I hit the rowing machine, trying to get 8 to 10 reps at my heaviest, before working my way back down again, squeezing the muscles hard. I follow that with single machine rows using the same approach, then I finish with lat pull-downs, starting heavy and reducing weight while adding more reps. Finally, I wrap up with pullovers, doing about 6 sets until I can't squeeze my back anymore. If you want a big back, barbell rows are the way to go.

Absolutely! You're a beast, my dude!

Thanks a lot, buddy.

I really like rows and pull-downs, but nothing targets that lower insertion point like Keenan flaps. I always finish my back workouts with those.